The One-Page Proposal: How to Get Your Business Pitch onto One Persuasive Page (Paperback)

~ (Author) "In the mid-1980s, when I was a thirty-seven-year-old businessman, Adnan Khashoggi, one of the richest men in the world, invited me to Monte Carlo to..." (more)
Key Phrases: target reader, secondary targets, United States, Geniisis Agents, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Brevity is the soul of wit.
And when it comes to business, it's the secret of success.

Lean. Trim. Clear. Concrete. In a world where decisions are made between two rings of a cell phone, this is what a successful business proposal must be. It's a lesson entrepreneur Patrick Riley learned after one too many potential partners ignored his painstaking (but long and forbidding) proposals. And now, in The One-Page Proposal, he shares his secret strategy -- the one that he has parlayed into a multimillion-dollar business career. Riley describes every important element of a successful business proposal -- from the basic message to the financial details. Step by step, he outlines how to create the perfect attention-grabbing pitch, offering dozens of strategies to help organize your research, focus your message, eliminate unnecessary language, and anticipate potential reservations. Learn how to:

• Use active, positive wording
• Compress data without losing important content
• Tactfully ask what you want
• Prioritize information, including only what's necessary
• Get the tone and voice right
• Tailor the product to your target reader

From choosing the right investor to selecting the typeface, The One-Page Proposal is the one tool you need to propel your business idea to the top of any investor's to-do list.

About the Author

Patrick Riley is the principal agent of Genisis Agents, an international agency representing extraordinary professors and researchers from leading universities and research institutions around the world. A longtime investor, businessman, and entrepreneur, he lives in San Francisco, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; 1 edition (September 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060988606
• ISBN-13: 978-0060988609
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,402 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Big things come in concisely small proposals, June 3, 2004

By	Maria Marsala (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

All I can say is that I no longer pull my hair out when a client says "send me a proposal". I have a form, which I received in this book that helps me create proposals in less than an hour (that's if I have to so some research) or I can use a proposal I previously created and just "critique it". In the past year, since the book was recommended to me, I have not been asked once to provide a "larger" proposal... this one page has been "it".

My clients don't believe how e-z it is to use, until they try it themselves. I highly recommend this book for you to write proposals that will get read, because they're short, sweet, thorough and to the point. Why not 5 stars? I found the beginning of the book a little boring. Once he got into the "guts" of the proposal making, I couldn't wait to finish.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I instantly recommended it to my clients and my friends, December 26, 2003

By	Roger C. Parker (Dover, NH) - See all my reviews

Although it's a fast read, the One-Page Proposal is a breath of fresh air offering a new perspective on a topic others have written about in "predictable" ways.

I was so excited when I discovered this that I immediately e-mailed 20 of my friends and told them to immediately order it, and I've recommended it to all of my clients.

The One-Page Proposal gave me a totally new perspective on of my least favorite tasks. It showed me how wrong my previous approach to preparing proposals had been. It showed me how to build my proposal around what my client really wanted, rather than what I wanted to sell.

Chapter 4, "The Road Map--Putting It All Together," presents the new model of the proposal with easy-to-follow clarity. You'll learn how to spend your time planning your proposal, identifying your prospect's needs, and making it easy for them to say yes. Excerpts and annotated samples drive each lesson home.

This is not a superficial, "formula" book. It doesn't do the work for you. Rather, it teaches you how to do the work better and more efficiently. It will change the way you think about and prepare future proposals. You'll soon be preparing more proposals in less time--and enjoying the resulting additional profits.

You'll learn that proposals are not sales "closers," but can be "door-openers" to new opportunities.

I've consulted with hundreds of clients and written 37 books with a total circulation of 1.6 million copies--and I'm erasing my old proposal template and have turned into a Patrick Riley One-Page convert.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Adnan Khashoggi to Judith Regan - quite a tale in 122 pages!, July 26, 2006

By	Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Like a previous reviewer, I did the 'Better Together' promotion which paired Patrick Riley's "One-Page Proposal" with Tom Sant's book. How good is Riley's book? Five pages into it, I literally pitched Sant's book. Nothing against Mr. Sant's work. I was just so smitten with Riley's approach and take on things that I didn't want a competing model to diminish the clarity of it.

I have to say, Riley crafts a real "you had me at hello" moment with a riveting opening tale of how he first was introduced to the method: by none other than Adnan Khashoggi. That's what gives the method its credibility. You have to imagine a guy like Khashoggi getting bombarded with proposals, most of them long, overwrought, wordsmithed to death and - more often than not - completely ignored by their target. Khashoggi's message? "You want to get my attention, here's how."

Riley ends the book by showing you the one-page proposal sent to Judith Regan about writing a book for her publishing house, i.e., the book that you're holding in your hands. It goes without saying: the Regan pitch was another successful proposal.

So, this is more than just another boring how-to business cookbook. Any work that manages to weave together Adnan Khashoggi with Judith Regan definitely has my attention. Patrick Riley deserves your attention, too. His book is worth your time and money.